The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-07-20
CURTIS AND THE CONSTITUTION

CURTIS AND THE CONSTITUTION
George Ticknor Curtis has been an
earnest and consistent champion OF The
rights of the people of Utah. His per
and his tongue have been freely snc
ably employed in behalf of the op-
pressed community. and he has been as
brave and fearless in this matter, as he
has been logical. Now that the people
have taken the initiative in the matter
of putting a stop to polygamy Mr.
Curtis endorses their petition for State
hood, and ably combats the arguments
of the enemies to the Mormons. 1t
the New York Evening Post of the 14th
instant, Judge Curtis has this I'M
snswerable letter, which is commended
to the consideration of those I'M
reasonable fellows who are opposing the
Statehood movement. We reproduce
the letter entire:
To the editor of the EUeninO Post.
Sir-Permit me to say that the idea of re-
curing the Mormon Church in Utah for
mally 10 renounce its religious tenet on the
subject of plural marriages before an appli-
cation of the people of the Territory to be
admitted into the Union as a State can be
considered, is one that the people of the
United States ought not to adopt Such q
requirement would convert political ques-
tion-a merely civil question-into reli-
gious one. 1t would make a precedent for
inquiring into the religious beliefs of q ma
jority of the people Of Territory before
their claim to become ayState should be al
lowed a hearing The abstract religious
faith of the Mormon Church on The subject
of marriage viii be of no practical conse-
quence whatever, provided the Mormon
citizens OF Utah, as citizens, shall give to
the country satisfactory assurances that I'M
der a STATE Constitution properly framed,
they can and will put an end to the practice
of polygamy.
One Of your city contemporaries, a lead-
ing morning journal, is laboring hard to
convince the public that the MormOns are
aiming TO trick the people and government
of the United States l know of no more in
telligent and well-informed men than sew
eral OF the leading persons Who have init
ated the present movement, and whom l
know quite intimately. That such men
should suppose that they can play a trick on
the people of this country, and delude Con-
gress into allowing condition of affairs in
which there will be no honest effort to do
Whatthey profess a desire to do, is ridicu-
lous. These men have become convinced
that their welfare and happiness, and the
welfare and happiness OF all the inhabi-
tauts OF the Territory, Mormons and Gen
tiles alike, require them to make an
offer as citizens to support and abide
by a State Constitution prohibiting poly
gamy. II is neither fair nor sensible
to charge them with a dishonest pur-
pose. Your contemporary insists that
they, are not TO be trusted, and so,
on that diStrust, Utah is to be kept and
governed as q Territory, snd Congress,
which in some respects is a body rot well
fitted TO legislat on the social conditions of
aGy community, is to Ike p on legis atlng on
q Subjec that had far better be RENTED to
the people of the Territory in a Legislature
of their own, under prouer constitui iOnal
gUarsn ees, compacts, and mandates.
What good would it do to require the
Mormon Church to renounce the religious
doctrine of plural msrriage in some formal
and authoritative corporal act, and then to
admit tab as State? If the sc people ale
not sine re, what would ere b7 to prevent
the Church from retorlDg the doctrine and
writing it into the cree after the full
panopiy o. Sta ehOod and ;elf'g vernment
had bee1 put on by the body polite? In
this matter of making States snd State con-
Etitutions, we had better leave the religious
beliefs of people alone. There are very few
persons In this country who e. qua
lifted to judge fairly what til Nor
mon hurch teaches or ever has
taught on the marriage relation, because
there is and has been so much mispresenta-
ton and such gross ignorance respecting the
Mormon religion and the teachings of the
Mormon Church. A year and half ago |
lad to argue a case in The Supreme Court of
the United States, which required me to
show, from authentic sources, what the
Mormon belief about marriage is | found
that the Congressional Library did not con-
tain, until placed It there, a single copy of
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants
which is the authorized embodiment of the
text of the Mormon creeds, or any other
book which would afford proper informa-
ton on the subject, although there are q
great many such books, and they can
easily be procured l found, too, on look
ing into the encyclopedias, a great deal of
historical inaccuracy and doctrinal misre-
presenta ion respecting the MormOnS and
their beliefs I do not believe that there
have been five men in either house OF Con-
gress for the past ten years who could state
truly and accurately what the Mormon
church holds aud teaches in regard
TO marriage; and If any one member, in an
honest desire to inform himself, had in
quired, tina. he could not have found in the
whole capital q sing book that would have
enlightened him. Yet our wor by Senators
and Representatives have bsen for years
legislaiing on a subject VIII ch is closely
interviewer with religion that is the most
TemarkGDte p0euOnenOu OF It's KING IN the
modern history OF the human mind 1t is
very easy to deride a belief in 5his or any
other religion as a fsnaticiSm But the
stateSm an, the legislator OF the pub icist
who pronouuces any belief a fanaticism.
and on that assumption undertakes 10 shape
legislation or determine questions OF civil
polity affecting the supposed fanatics. does
what he had better refrain from There are
some doctrines and some practices in the
Roman ustnolic Church belief in which a
good many PrOtes ants consider fanatical
Auricular coufe sion, for example, is re-
garded by most PrOtestants as Il dangerous,
pernieious and immoral practice. If ma
jority of the speop,e OF a Territory were
Roman Catholics. and were 10 ask admis-
zion into the Union as a State, and were 10
De told tina. their application could not be
considered unless their church should first
condemn auTicular confession by some
formal act I rather think there would be
some thunder heard in the pc itical sky.
Certain leading and important Mormons
hsve come forward and framed State Con
stitnti0n prohibiting p0lJSaAy. and with
this il ispropOsed 10 ask ~ - admission o.
Q ali as State. Some these men know
10 be sons of pOlygamous parents, whose
marriages were contracted long before thers
wassn law OF Il . United States which pro
hibited plural MARI ages, and when the
peop.e or the Unit d States, with full
In ,wledge OF she pIa ice existing in Utah
gave pCIsgamT at | asst tseti liberation
II hat = Md b. the sense in requiring thesS
II an 10 dishOaor their dead parents, or tC